Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter in Mexico City

I am sorry to bring bad news to the home crowd and Sergio Perez fans but the car is in two pieces. The rear is off which means a power unit change. They will be racing to get it done in time for qualifying, I don't think there is any doubt about that, but no running for Perez apart from that one lap.

Can Ferrari put everything together in qualifying and claim pole position in Mexico? The Italian team are now one and two on the timesheets, but it's Charles Leclerc who has become the driver to topple.The Monegasque man has put 0.083 seconds between himself and Scuderia team-mate Hamilton, with Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli jumping above Oscar Piastri and into third.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on Radio 5 Live in Mexico City

A good run from Lewis Hamilton. We didn't really get to see the full pace of him yesterday. There were definite glimpses that he could match Leclerc for pace so that Ferrari is looking in good shape. They are in a good position going into this weekend.

The track is evolving at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, so the times are changing rapidly.

Kimi Antonelli is able to improve on his latest run to go top, but the title leader's time is beaten by McLaren Oscar Piastri and the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton.

The trio are all on the medium tyre, with seven-time world champion Hamilton three tenths faster than Australian Piastri.

Will this be another practice session in the bag for Charles Leclerc this weekend? The Ferrari driver is another runner on the medium compound and is able to beat Kimi Antonelli's quickest time by 0.034 seconds.

World champion Lando Norris, who will be handing over the number one very soon, although Antonelli has said he might keep his regular number 12 next season, goes third fastest, not too far off the Italian's time.

Image source, Getty Images

Charles Leclerc was surprised when told Ferrari were some people's favourites to win in Mexico, but maybe he shouldn't have been.

The Monegasque driver topped both sessions on Friday, leading world champion Lando Norris by 0.103 seconds in the second hour. Mercedes' George Russell was third, one place ahead of championship leader and team-mate Kimi Antonelli, with Red Bull's Max Verstappen and Isack Hadjar fifth and sixth.

Leclerc's team-mate Lewis Hamilton was 11th overall after stopping on track with a technical problem before completing his qualifying simulation runs on the soft tyre.

"I was feeling really good in the car," said the seven-time world champion. "It's just my luck."

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has finally arrived in Mexico for what is likely to be a huge weekend for the team. Wolff is watching on as champion in waiting Kimi Antonelli does an opening flying lap on the medium tyre and goes quickest with a 1:18.754.

The Italian's time is 0.228 seconds quicker than team-mate George Russell, who is on the same compound and slips into second, followed by the McLaren of Oscar Piastri, 0.252secs off Antonelli's marker.

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu is speaking to Sky Sports on the pit wall, but any hopes of getting the full story as to why Esteban Ocon has been dumped for the rest of weekend are dashed quickly. The team aren't going to say anything more than they have done already.

Pierre Gasly has put the fastest time on the board so far with a 1:19.304 on the medium compound from the Racing Bulls of rookie Arvid Lindblad.

Fernando Alonso: Something wrong with the engine. No power into one and downshifts didn't work.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on Radio 5 Live in Mexico City

Not a good sign [for Bortoleto]. Actually they had more trouble yesterday didn't they - they sent the car out with a fan left in the radiator duct. Of coruse they would have checked all those things and it would be silly to assume the two things are connected but his engine is not looking very healthy.

With an advantage of 123 points over Mercedes team-mate George Russell and 124 points over third-placed Lewis Hamilton, Kimi Antonelli has one hand - and a couple fingers from the other - on the 2026 drivers' title.

The is how the 20-year-old can become the first Italian to win the championship since Alberto Ascari claimed his second title in 1953.

Image source, Getty Images

Jennie Gow
F1 pit-lane reporter in Mexico City

Kimi Antonelli is very relaxed. He is on the edge of history. There he is just sitting in his step like nothing is bothering him at all.

Along with giving us your predictions for pole position today, let us know how you're feeling about Esteban Ocon's situation at Haas and the fallout between Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson.

Use the 'get involved' button on the live page and remember, you can add pictures to your messages now, so if you're dressed up for Halloween, send them in.

On track, Gabriel Bortoleto has an issue already, telling his Audi pit wall there is something wrong with his power-unit.

Marc Priestley
Former F1 mechanic on Radio 5 Live in Mexico City

I think the biggest story here is that the top four or five drivers are incredibly close when it comes to one lap performance and also for race pace. It is very difficult to call and I am here for that.

Image source, Getty Images

In the media pen before the stewards announced their decision, Max Verstappen gave some words of warning to his former Red Bull team-mate Liam Lawson, who is under pressure to keep his place on the grid with Racing Bulls, even though he's performed well this season.

"At the end of the day it is not going to change my weekend, but if I were him I would act a little smarter and when you're fighting for your seat it's not very smart behaviour," said the Dutchman.

He then added: "When he saw me coming, he suddenly started to accelerate. I don't know what was going through his head, that he wanted to drive me off the track in the hairpin.

"That's not very sensible behaviour from someone in his position, to pick a fight with me."

Racing Bulls team principal Alan Permane said: "One word - unnecessary. And I say that of both of them."

And just like that, Esteban Ocon's number is scrubbed from the Haas garage and Ryo Hirakawa's is added.

Third practice is green.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Both Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson will be dropping one place on the grid for Sunday's race after the pair were penalised for a collision during yesterday's practice session.

The two drivers made contact into Turn 13 in the stadium section after running wheel to wheel through a few corners.

Straight after the incident, Lawson came on the Racing Bulls radio to say the Red Bull man drove into him", adding: "He literally just drove into me, every weekend."

The stewards report said that four-time world champion Verstappen was preparing for a flying lap and Lawson on a slow lap after a timed lap "preparing for another push lap".

It added: "The drivers of both cars behaved in a manner that was considered unacceptable by the stewards."

BBC Sounds

Welcome back to Jennie Gow, Harry Benjamin, former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley and F1 correspondent Andrew Benson for today's third practice and qualifying.

If you're planning on going out trick-or-treating tonight, don't worry, you can take the F1 commentary with you.

To tune in, you can either click the listen live tab at the top of the page, search for 5 Sports Extra via the BBC Sounds app or ask your smart speaker to "play 5 Sports Extra".

Andrew Benson
BBC F1 correspondent

Image source, Getty Images

The move comes after Esteban Ocon had a dispute with his race engineer Laura Mueller during second practice on Friday about tyre strategy.

Mueller told him over the radio that they were switching him to use the medium tyres on his race-simulation run because team-mate Oliver Bearman's run on the soft was "not great".

After Ocon asked for clarity, Mueller told him: "We have to do medium."

Ocon replied: "No, no. I wanted the soft. Don't do that to me. Come on."

Haas declined to comment on whether the decision to replace Ocon was related to the exchange and whatever aftermath it might have had.

Image source, Getty Images

If you were following along with us yesterday, you will have seen a radio exchange between Esteban Ocon and his engineer, Laura Mueller. The Frenchman was unhappy when the team told him his tyre for his race simulations were going to be changed.

On Saturday, Haas released the news Ocon will be replaced by Japanese reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa, who took part in first practice on Friday, for the remainder of the Mexico weekend.

We don't have any more details behind the decision, although a spokesperson at Haas said it was not because the Ocon was ill (there has been illness in the paddock with other drivers this weekend).

Ocon is leaving Haas at the end of season, with Brazilian Rafael Camara will joining the US-based team for his debut season in 2027.